Heads up: 5 things to do before you retire

Retired life can be fun-filled and peaceful, if planned well in advance. Here are some tips to help those in their prime of life, and those near retirement, to plan for a comfortable life ahead.

BankBazaar.com | Last Updated: December 22, 2012 15:48 (IST)

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Planning for retirement and doing something about it is something that most youth and elders detest. For the youth there is no incentive to plan for something that will come up 35 years later. For the elders, the fear that they may not have enough money in their last phase of life prevents them for doing a deeper analysis and action after that.

Retirement Planning is not only about money

There is more to retirement planning than money. Some of the key things to be planned which actually make the planning more interesting is to consider:

How will you spend your time?

Places to visit

Tackling health related issues

Sharing the wealth created

And finally planning for income (of course)

In fact, most people just think of the last one without considering the first four. This leads to confusion and fear.

Today we find more old age destitute homes popping up than schools, indicating a trend towards lack of retirement planning. The following tips will help those in their prime of life and those near retirement to plan for a comfortable retired life.

Tips for Retirement Planning

1. Plan Time: Many retired people are lost because they have not planned for the question “What next?”. It is important to find some activity that will fill the 8 to 12 hours that one has spent at work. This is not only for the breadwinner, but also for the homemaker. What will you do to manage a new person with whom you need to share 8 to 12 hours, suddenly?

a. Think Social Activities: There are so many activities that one may have thought of doing, but not have actually done for want of time or due to other priorities. Post retirement, one can take them all with a vengeance. This not only a time filler but also a very good way to keep the brain stimulated.

b. Think Hobbies: Apart from filling time and keeping one mentally agile, hobbies also add to your skill sets. Taking up a new hobby and joining a hobby club is a great way to manage retired life.

2. Plan Travel: Except for the envied few who had great travel oriented jobs, most would have sacrificed their travel plans for their career. And don’t grow too envious. Those jet flyers on the job also crib as they had to travel on such tight schedules that they hardly got to see anything worthwhile, while travelling on the job. Retirement is a wonder time to plan for all those missed countries and places to visit.

3. Plan Health: Health insurance is very handy when you are retired. But if this is planned on the brink of retirement, not only is the cost too high, but diseases may already have set in. This means that the pre-existing diseases will not be paid for by the insurance for upto 4 years after taking the plan.

4. Write a Will: Writing a will to efficiently pass the wealth created to our loved ones is very important. However in India, this practice is generally absent. Even some of the richest people in India have not taken up this practice (think Dhirubhai Ambani). This leads to costly and lengthy process of passing our hard-earned wealth to our loved ones.

5. Plan Finances for Regular Income: Though this aspect alone can be written in whole books, the basic idea can be summed up in a few points:

a. Do not lock up funds in illiquid assets without cash flow – Avoid buying a large house for you to stay and prefer a house from which you can get a rental income.

b. Do not to give away wealth too soon – Having cash does not mean that you can give it away to your sons, daughters, brothers and sisters or to a temple. Give it to them through your will so that they get your wealth, and at the same time, the money works for you when you are around.

c. Do not experiment – To experiment with retirement funds in the stock market and commodities or a new business post retirement is highly risky. You may not have the time or energy to earn the money lost (if lost).

Disclaimer: All information in this article has been provided by BankBazaar.com and NDTV Profit is not responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the same.